Skip to main content
THE SIMULATION LAB
Free printable · APUSH Topic 2.5

Colonial Conflict and Diplomacy Case Cards

Eight case cards covering conflict and alliance across colonial North America, ten source-provenance cards, a sourcing mat, and a teacher key. Students compare cases — and then ask who produced the account each case rests on.

Why this page exists: two lessons name case files and source-use cards that never shipped as files. One deck runs both.

Nothing to download, no email, no account. Print straight from this page. Built for the Diplomacy and Conflict Case Files and the Using Sources lesson in Topic 2.5 of APUSH Launch Control, and it works in any course that teaches the same ground.

How to print it

Each button opens your browser's normal print box with only that one piece selected — the website navigation, this text, and the teacher key never come out of the printer by accident. Choose your printer, press Print. Nothing downloads.

  1. The 18 cards — 3 pages, 6 per page. Eight case cards and ten provenance cards. Cut on the dashed lines; one set per group.
  2. The sourcing mat — 1 page, prints sideways. One per group. Four zones that move from what a source says to what it can be used to prove.
  3. The teacher key — 1 page, for you only. What each case establishes and the sourcing move it teaches.
  4. The regional map is not included on purpose. Project the one you already use — this page will not fake a historical map.

18 cards · 3 pages at 6 per page · cut on the dashed lines

Colonial Conflict and Diplomacy Case CardsEight cases, ten provenance cards. Cut on the dashed lines. thesimulationlabedu.com

The cards

The case cards give the situation. The provenance cards describe who produced an account of it, and why — which is the difference between knowing a story and being able to use it.

Sourcing Significance MatOne per group. Move left to right: says, means, proves. thesimulationlabedu.com

The sourcing mat

Four zones. Students move a source from what it says to what it can actually be used to prove — which is where sourcing stops being a label and starts being an argument.

What it says

The content, stated plainly.

Who made it, and why

Author, audience, purpose, moment.

What it can prove

The claim it genuinely supports.

What it cannot prove

The limit, named specifically.

Our case, and the source we used
Two sources that disagree — and what would settle it
A source that is useful precisely because it is one-sided
What we would need to corroborate our claim
Teacher key — what each case establishes and the sourcing move it teaches (click to open)
Teacher Key — Conflict and Diplomacy Case CardsDo not hand to students. thesimulationlabedu.com

Kept closed by default so it is not on the board behind you.

Free from The Simulation Lab · https://thesimulationlabedu.com/history/apush/tools/colonial-conflict-diplomacy-case-cards/

Run it in one class period

  1. Opener, 5 minutes. Deal one case card per group. Each names what both sides wanted in one sentence.
  2. Case study, 15 minutes. Groups work their case and identify which provenance cards could plausibly describe evidence about it.
  3. Sourcing move, 15 minutes. Take one provenance card through all four mat zones. The fourth zone is the graded one.
  4. Corroborate, 10 minutes. Two sources disagree. What would settle it? Push past "find a neutral source" — there isn't one.
  5. Exit, 5 minutes. Name a source and one claim it can support and one it cannot.

Why provenance cards are generic. They describe kinds of sources rather than specific documents, so the deck works with whatever texts your kit or your library supplies. The reasoning move — from what a source says to what it proves — is the transferable skill.

These are teacher-authored case summaries and source descriptions, not primary-source excerpts. For documents students read closely, use the Evidence and Source Guide in the lesson kit.

All free printable card sets · Back to the APUSH Skills Lab

Written and reviewed by Josh, classroom history teacher and Simulation Lab creator. Published and reviewed August 19, 2026. Print and copy freely for your own classroom. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board.